At Year's end...

It has been a busy Christmas, but enjoyable. My family is healthy and happy and 2010 was a good year. I hope 2011 is healthy,happy and prosperous to all. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I finished the interface to the Yaesu FT-950 and I am trying to find time to finish the Kenwood interface. Next weekend is RTTY Roundup contest starting at 12 noon on Saturday for Me.Lots to do to get ready- maybe will be able to find some time to participate!
We had a rain storm yesterday which made everthing an icy mess but it was warm enough it fell to the ground instead of covering trees and antennas--so it could have been worse! Temperature has dropped and now its snowing! Have to love winter to live up here- I do!!
73---Tim

RTTY Interfaces

Besides everything else happening during the Christmas season, I've been trying to finish building two Digital/PSK/RTTY interfaces. The light colored box is an interface I made for several older radios for PSK and SSTV. I use a RS232 switchbox to switch between different radios and it has worked well for many years with only minor modifications. The black box is a new project for just My Kenwood Ts-850 and mostly will be for RTTY, although all the other digital modes can also be used with it-even CW !

Both boxes use similiar circuits with level adjustment,isolation audio transformers and optical isolator IC's for all PTT/RTTY circuits. I just finished modifying the original gray box for RTTY and My Yaesu FT-950 and it appears to work. After the holidays will have a better chance to test it.

Speaking of the Holidays-- Merry Christmas!!

73--Tim

RAC Winter Contest 2010

The RAC winter Contest is one of My favorites because of the casual attitude and the "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays" addition to most exchanges.Our Canadian neighbors seem to enjoy just the fact so many VE's and VA's are on the air at the same time! This contest runs for 24 hours and it started at My location at 6:00 PM CST Friday and ended at 6:00PM CST Saturday. My goal this year was to have a minimum 50 contacts and maybe all 14 RAC official stations in the log. The official stations would be difficult for a SSB only station, but I would give a good try.

I started Friday night scanning the bands until I finally found activity on 40m.My first contact was VY2RAC but I quickly decided 40m was not full of contesters so I switched to 75m and did a S & P effort. After several breaks from the radio I eventually ended up on 160m where My inverted "L" performed nicely. Not alot of contacts on 160m and I called it a night with about same number of contacts on Friday I had for all of last Years contest--all S & P.

Saturday was not what I expected-- was not feeling 100% and actually spent time on the couch watching the UMD Bulldogs win the title game against Delta! Later in the afternoon I was able to again try the contest and spent time on 20m. I didn't hear any activity on 10m and 15m and was not able to participate when conditions again would have shifted towards 40 and 75m. This contest was fun but I again didn't spend enough time to rack up a better score but the bands seemed to be in good shape and I was able to use three different antennas. The Inverted "L" for 160m, 260 ft dipole for 75m and the butternut HF6V vertical for 20m and 40m and all three performed well. i actually broke some pile-ups and didn't feel like a peashooter station at times. One station even commented on My 20 over 9 signal and I commented on his 30-40 over 9 signal--must have been a pipeline! One other fact- USA and Dx for Me were also scoring opportunities giving 2 points-Nice! I ended up contacting 6 of the 14 RAC special stations! Several on multiple bands.

Results--- QSOs Pts Sec

56 612 18
Score : 11,016

73---Tim

10m reflections

I've had some time to read the 3830 reflector and also comments from the MWA members concerning the recent 10m contest. Some very good scores but also lots of sad faces with poor results. Most of the bad results seem to be Northern latitudes, verticals or wire antennas and low or QRP power. Not all contesters with the above mentioned station setups did poorly but
many were like Me- results lower than expected.
I had several nice contacts but overall nothing to write home about! I even listened to several local run stations and compared how well I was hearing the far end. Definately a difference for Me and when I did try running,the results were very poor. Sometimes My vertical has surprised Me how well I can hear and be heard,just this time it wasn't doing as well. I read several writeups mentioning tri-banders at 20-30 ft, these contesters did OK. This is about the height of a future setup with My Cushcraft ATB-34 I've been considering. Inverted"L" was this years antenna project- maybe some metal in the air will be next years new project.
I was lucky to not have murphy pay Me a visit-- no computer,software or radio problems. I used My new Heil Proset plus and was very happy with it. I do have some concerns about setting it up with My FT-950. I'm hoping My audio is sounding OK- would hate to be one of the overdriven scoundrels!!
73 for now---Tim

ARRL 10m Contest-- Saturday/Sunday

We are lucky and did not receive but a light dusting of snow. South and east of Us was another story! Today, Sunday the temps started at 15F below zero-- brrrr. The contest has been just as cold. I thought Saturday morning the floodgates were about to open. Signals suddenly were popping out of the ether. Too bad they came and went so quickly! Two Texas and one Puerto Rico station and were gone. Should have kept with S&P but tried calling CQ to try for a run but the band died and I didn't realize it for a time.
No more activity except one local. Sunday so far is the same- nothing. I will update if any openings happen,but for now....
73---Tim
Towards the end of this contest , northern Minnesota did finally experience 10m propagation. I added mostly Texas stations and even tried "running" but without alot of success. I guess I need
some metal in the air. My Vertical antenna just didn't seem to be enough this time. I ended up with a smaller score than the previous two years- which doesn't seem right! Less than 50 contacts-- would be better If I did CW!
73---Tim

ARRL 10m Contest-- Friday night

Well the contest started at 6:00 CST here in Minnesota and so far I've only logged locals. My score would be double if I was a Charlie wiskey op. All the more reason to start studying again.
Slow start but chatting with the locals has been fun and enlightening. About half of these guys only get on the air during a contest! All of them have been interesting and are great operators.
The news is over and I'm monitoring 28400 without much activity-bed soon. Ok- another local contact. He is mobile heading home so We had a nice QSO and even switched to 2m SSB till He pulled into His driveway. I'll give it a little more time-hoping for some activity before the expected 7-12 inches of snow We are supposed to receive! More snow removal again!
73--Tim

Station changes

Changed My main PC to the new/old Dell and moved lots of equipment to make room for the Kenwood TS-850 and an older Kenwood TS-700a. Little crowded but more rearranging will probably happen soon. CU this weekend for the ARRL 10m contest-- starts 6:00 CST Friday .

73---Tim

The week that was

This Holiday season is busy and flying by. My girls and I went Christmas shopping today and the stores are crazy. We also added about nine inches of snow to Our total on the ground and I have to say its a winter wonderland up here! Gotta love it or you need to leave it. I'm loving it!
I've also been trying to finish upgrading My new/old Dell PC to replace an outdated,slow,slow slow PC that has been My main shack one for quite a while. I believe I've successfully added an I/O PCI card so i now have two serial ports. I've also been downloading Ham related programs to this Dell PC and maybe tomorrow I'll swap the two PC's.
I'm also building an interface for RTTY and the digital modes to connect another PC to My Kenwood TS-850-- yes, I know, I haven't sold it yet and I'm actually going to keep it and add to My shack. I must be crazy-- money would be nice but this just might be temporary. I'll use it for several RTTY contests coming early next year.I'll decide after that!
Christmas tree is up- still need to finish decorating it but We are tired and took a movie break!
Appropriate-- "A Christmas Carol" with Jim Carrey-- fun!!
73---Tim

Time and lack of it!

OOps, just noticed My Clock on this blog was set to DST-- sorry. I think I corrected it!
I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Our trip out of town was delayed by a snowstorm. We finally visited Grandma Saturday and today which was very nice but upon Our return it was dark and so is our Chicken coop! Water frozen solid and distressed birds! I finally have the trouble narrowed down to a circcuit breaker,bad disconnect box or the more likely culprit-- underground feed from the pole building to the coop. Decided I need daylight to continue so took off tomorrow and currently am backfeeding with an extension chord. All breakers and fuses off and pulled! Can never be too safe!!
In a Ham related subject-- last week checked SWR on My Butternut vertical and it was very high on all bands. It was fine the weekend before during Sweepstakes but now was definately bad! We had an ice/snow storm in between then and now.. so I wonder. I checked all visable connections and dug the snow at the base away so I could inspect those connections. Finally started digging thru snow and weeds to the connection between the hardline and the 75 ohm matching stub. Nothing obvious, but checking SWR again showed all back to normal! Oh,boy! The feared intermittant connection-- I think its buried under coax seal and black tape at the hardline/coax transition. I think I'll try to baby it till the weather warms a bit-- preferably spring!!
73---Tim

ARRL SS SSB 2010

This is the first time I participated in sweepstakes and despite the long exchange, I did have a good time. The exchange consists of a "serial number or QSO amount", "precedence or class" of which I was "A" for single operator low power, my callsign, a "check" or year first licensed as a Ham and ARRL section. So My entire exchange went like this for QSO#1--- 01 A N0UJJ 92 MN Try that many times over without a voice keyer!! I also had to copy similiar exchanges from the far end. ARRL sections are two and three letter abreviations and there is eighty of them- USA and Canadian! I also found My listening ability to My brain and then to type it correctly to a logging program is not great. Half way thru I actually switched to writing it down and then transferring it to the PC, not very efficient and certainly not good for calling CQ. This again meant a strictly S & P contest for Me. Eventually I started noticing a rthyme to the exchange but every interruption meant starting over getting back into that rthyme.

Contest started at 3:00 CST for Me and 15m was the band to be on . My exchange at first was rough but eventually had the hang of it! My S & P ability is not bad so by the end of the first hour had a little over 30 logged. Then it was time to break for supper. Upon returning, after a few chores,found the bands closed on both 15m and 20m and most activity had shifted to 40m and 75m. Both these bands for casual QSO's and net check-ins work well for Me,but during a contest, My little pee-shooter station struggles. It also was extremely noisy and was starting to give Me a headache so I decided to do something else and check back often. I was really hoping for some activity to move to 160m so I could try out My inverted"L", but this never happened and I finally went to bed. I was well below what I had hoped for the first night but not giving up.

Sunday on and off times were dependant on Family activities and I managed to get on the air several more times. 15m was again My best band but 20m also worked fairly well and I added many multipliers on 20! I did have a few embarrassing exchanges when I was informed I was a"dupe om". Seems I had fat fingered several early entries. One was super station NR5M, but He handled it well!

I also realized the last hours of this contest seemed more relaxed than the first rush on Saturday. Some portions of the bands also were less congested and I had better luck with logging contacts within the first few tries. My Yaesu FT-950 performed very well and I was constantly amazed with the narrow bandwidth setting and how signals jumped out of the QRM to be totally copyable! Contour filter,IF shift and notch all made it better for picking out signals. I wish the other end could hear Me as well as I hear them!! Maybe time for QRO level!-- LOL or not!!

At the end My log showed 129 Qso's,41 sections for a total of 10660. Not as good as I had hoped,but each contest I learn new tricks- maybe someday My score will reflect that!!

73---Tim

2000 views

Thanks to all those viewers who paused at My blog, wether by chance or on purpose. This blog is mostly simplistic Ham Radio related potpourri (sp?)of everyday meanderings from the comfort of My basement. Nothing too in depth because quite frankly I have a hard time putting My thoughts on paper, lots of sporadic firings of semi-technical stuff!-
This continues to be a multi-purpose blog- it helps My family understand what I do in the basement and it gives Me a chance to improve My thought to paper writing. Its also just plain fun to do!
here's to 3000!
73---Tim

Heil,DSL and "L"

I was able to test My Heil proset last night with the help of a good friend on 10m. I was able to test mic gain settings and also have processor on/off, check difference between the Hc-4 and Hc-5 elements and use the built-in equalizer settings on the Yaesu. Interestingly enough, My friend at the other end liked My audio with the processor on. Both of Us have hearing issues so other Hams might like My audio better without processing. Next contest will be the ultimate test arena!
This morning I started to test our new internet service- Qwest DSL. We have not had many choices other than dial-up modem or satellite until recently. We have really liked Satellite internet but it is on the expensive side.Now after hooking up several laptops and one desktop to DSL, the speed is quite a bit better. Still having some issues with various PC's but I will eventually work thru them.
A snow storm has been predicted to arrive here by noon tomorrow so I needed to work outside on several projects before then. My inverted "L" needed to be higher on the horizontal leg and I thought I now had just the tool to do this. My Wife had bought Me a new fishing reel for just this purpose and using a golf ball with a hole drilled in it I was able on the first cast to get over the top of a very tall pine tree. Now My antenna goes straight vertical for 30 feet then angles up another 20 feet before dropping back to the 30 foot level at the end point.On a 160m net tonight I had many good signal reports and most signals are louder on the "L" than My 260 foot doublet!
Success at last!! big smile!!
73--Tim

New/old PC

The Hamshack PC is getting old and tired. Its been a good ol' reliable computer, but its slowly becoming full of stuff! One gigahertz and a half gig of memory at one time was enough ,but no more. Every program on the hard drive is updating and expanding with every download.
I'm very lucky to work in a business with access to old parts for many things including PC's. This also means access to many very technically talented individuals. Last year I replaced My Wife's desktop with a laptop. Its a 2.66ghz Dell with a small 40gb hard drive. Recently upgraded memory to 1.25gb so it loads fairly fast but the Hd is very full. Its an IDE drive and best buy actually has a 350 GB one for about $70. Lots of room!
I was able to use a copy program borrowed from a friend although the drive from Western Digital has one online also. Either way it saved Me many hours of reloading software, a process I've done before after reformatting HD's because of nasty viruses. No fun. This was fairly painless- worked well and now updating software.
New/old PC will be ready soon-- now if I can just find a cheap serial card......
73--Tim

New Headset and more

I'm the proud owner of a Heil Proset Plus and am looking forward to checking it out on the bands. Was out of town and have not had the opportunity to try it other than some sound checks into a dummy load. I plan on checking into the local 10m net and will ask for some audio checks then. the decision to buy this particular one was not done lightly. Its expensive and I was trying to use available equipment I had on hand, but had too much trouble trying to get old equipment working with my present HF radio. I discussed on the air ,several options and had even partially decided on a certain model , but listening to the Proset plus really sold Me. I like the dual element option . For DX and contesting or simple QSO's I can use the one that works best. The DX element,the HC-4 sounds tight and will probably be real similiar to using microphone processing so it should have good talk power. With the Yaesu FT-950 I can also reduce the transmitt bandwidth so lots of options available, many combinations so a on the air test will be in order!
The HC-5 element should be very pleasant for casual QSo's , from listening to others on the air it has a rich mellow sound. The Headset also has the phase reversal option which is supposed to help to cut down fatigue for long contesting stints! All in all , tough decision to part with the money but I think it will be a good addition to My shack!
I've also tried to spend time outside working on the inverted "L" project before daylight savings time ends! I have now run power from My shack to the weatherproof box at the feedpoint so later this winter adding a remote tuner will be easier. Also have been trying to get a rope postioned higher and throught the trees for a better, clearer , path. Trying a different trick using a golf ball with a hole drilled thru it and a full size fishing rod and reel. So far this working better than the slingshot fiasco!
Halloween decorations are down and put away and lots of Christmas decorations are seeing the light of day--or night!! Dark here now at about 5:00 CST--ouch!
73---Tim

Dx Disappointment

My original goals for the CQ WW SSB DX contest was to first and foremost have fun, also check how the new inverted "L" antenna would perform, try to have a good points showing and check accessory equipment. Well on the first point, I didn't have as much fun as hoped for. 15m was open until the contest and closed up for Me soon after! That was very disappointing because that band and 20m helps Me compete with the bigger stations. 20m also ended up being a dud and 40m was almost unuseable for My little 100w wires only station. Vertical on 40m sometimes does fair-this time it just wasn't cutting it!
Luckily on 160m and 80m until the crowd showed up was decent. DX during this contest was just not hearing Me. Thank goodness for Our Friends to the north-the VE's saved the day! I felt like it was the RAC winter contest at My station! Problem still being just not enough of them!
One good point was My inverted "L"- -on 160m I was hearing DX on this antenna I was not hearing on My big dipole (Doublet). I think the Dx was buried in the noise on the horizontal. Problem on the"L" was I could hear them but they could not hear Me! I think with it buried in the pines the transmit signal is being attenuated. Today I looked at the layout for this antenna and maybe before Winter I'll have a chance to change location slightly,which might help!
Last issue during this contest was unexpected-- My headset/mic combo was again picking up Rf and was now distorted. I tried several solutions before realizing this contest could only be a S&P operation withoout the handsfree headset/mic--bummer. What to do ? Pack it in is what I decided. I have a busy weekend anyway and need to rethink My station and contesting as a whole. I think I'll research a manufactured headset and forget My homemade one.
for now--73--Tim
oh--Happy Halloween!!

Electret Microphone for Yaesu Ft-950

I retrofitted an old IP Telephony headset/electret mic for use with My Kenwood TS-850. With the upcoming CQ WW SSb contest I needed to now use it with the Yaesu FT-950 which required a simple wiring change . Microphone impedences are the same so i thought no other change would be necessary or so I thought. Using headphones and setting the "moni" loud enough to hear I tried speaking using the antenna switched to a dummy load . Both with and without processor, audio was distorted and scratchy- sounded like RF almost getting in.
I had fashioned this headset adapter box based on simple diagrams from " Tomi Engdahl's" website and needed to change resistance and capacitor values to have it sounding quite good with My Kenwood radio. So now I did the same with the Yaesu interface finally arriving at a better,but not great sounding audio.
Next step was to actually talk to someone and another Ham in the area helped with this. Rf did seem to be distorting the audio, using different antennas and processor on or off. Turning down mic gain did help but still was not good. Eventually gave up for the night!
Today I tried adding a ground to the case ,which strangly enough caused some hum-- must be a ground loop somewhere! Next tried multiple ferrite beads- this did the trick nicely! Audio good enough for the non-discerning ear! OK- good enough for Me! If you look at the picture,beads are between adapter and radio. Now I'm ready for this weekend's contest. High winds forcast for tomorrow-hope their wrong! Don't want any downed antennas.
73---Tim

Update- 9/27/2011--  The Electret mike worked OK but I eventually upgraded to a Heil proset plus which works great!!

Wet Sunday,Apples and openings!

Started raining this morning and drizzled on and off all day. Its been dry so We do need the rain but it could have waited till Monday. Glad I did most of My planned outside work previous days. I had planned on running some control and power wiring to the inverted "L" but it will have to wait. Walking our dog in the rain was enough cold damp rain for Me,feels like snow in the air!
Spent a good part of the day reloading itouchs and iphone, talking with field support and generally doing PC support. It seems like an essential part of owning so many old PC's and apple products. This equipment changes-like life!!
Bands also had several minor openings on 10 and 15m, maybe others, but had some success mostly to South America. I was especially interested in signal reports and most were Ok. One actually gave Me 59 compared to His 57 I gave him. He seemed very truthful in His received signal reports, so maybe My additional radials attached between My HF6V and "L' are helping.
Next weekend might prove it one way or the other!
Have good week-- hear you on the bands!!
73----Tim

This and That

Latest picture of My basement ham shack. Notice paint on the floor is peeled from mini flood this summer.I hope to repaint sometime soon! There is also another computer in the cabinet to the right. I'm finding two PC's are very handy. PC on the rolling cart I recently put together from two non working ones. Love those spares!
My inverted "L" project is still ongoing, I'm adding some more ground radials and will be attaching them to existing Butternut vertical ground radial system. This should effectively increase the radial field for both antennas. I'm also going to run some control cable to the waterproof box in case I decide to add aremote auto tuner for the "L". I've been considering doing this.
I've also had some time to add some of the new DXCC entities from the split of the Netherland Antilles(sp?) - PJ7E,PJ4D and PJ6A. Two on 15m and one on 17m. All on SSB! One was first call but most seem to be big pileups!
Hope to hear you on the bands next weekend for CQ WW Dx contest- I'm planning on some contesting time. Depends on family,work and weather!!
73--Tim

Inverted "L" Saga- Part 3

I noticed My wire had many points touching the branches on lots of the trees it was passing thru and the wire also needed some better attachment at the ends. I spent part of a very nice afternoon trimming and readjusting the path thru the trees till I ended up with a satisfactory horizontal and vertical run- very few branches to interfere.

Checking resonance shows a slight change upwards but still not where I expected it to be...but wait, what was My original intention on resonance? I seem to remember wanting it about the Dx window of 1.830 mhz but that would mean a 1/4 wave length of about 128 ft. Hmm ... I have 130 ft! Plus several additional feet because of My attachment point to the box. That explains it!

Its basically working as advertised!!Maybe trim several feet to bring it up to 1.8mhz!

Why 130 ft?? Ahh.. half of My dipole dimension of 260-- but thats basically at 1.8 mhz-- and fed with 450 open wire, true multiband doublet with tuner in the shack. The inverted "L" concept I was looking at, was a while back and 130 ft stuck in My brain.

Lately I've read about a 3/8 wave "L"-- 160/80 m resonant-- better matching,whole ball of wax! For now, i'm still going to try reducing reactance and maybe even adding a trap for 80m.

Partial success so far-- next contest or QSO will prove it one way or the other!

73---Tim

Inverted "L" Saga- Part 2

First photo shows My entry point to My basement Hamshack. I added another coax to the already full conduit stubs and ran the coax across the back lawn to the woods and the box where I'll transition from coax to wire. The photo on the right is an old waterproof box I salvaged from work and to the left of the white pole is a plate where all My grounds and radial connections are tied together.

I have a pulley at the top end of the vertical section attached to the pine tree with a rope and also have a similiar setup at the end point. I don't want to climb any more than necessary! I spent some time trying to trim branches and get the horizontal portion as high as possible. The vertical is only half as high as I would like but maybe later I'll get it higher.

After all the connections were finished it was time to check with the antenna analyzer. I don't have any matching network at the coax to wire transition so I have a tuner in the shack match it to My radio. The analyzer shows resonance at 1.766 mhz! Hmmm ,little lower than expected-- was hoping for about 1.830-- Dx window! I did try using the tuner for matching across 160m and even most of 75m. Radio seemed to match and transmit for a quick test with no Rf in the shack.

I still need to increase the resonance on this antenna. Outside box would also accommedate a remote tuner or maybe even a simple matching network--- more to come!

73---Tim

PS-- on a 160m net several stations louder on "L" than dipole-- good sign?

Inverted "L" Saga- Part 1.5

OK- 1.5 is just a funny, but I have continued with this project. Darkness is keeping Me from lots of progress but I'm chugging along! I have a metal plate with a ground rod thru it as My connection for ground radials and sank a post at the base of the tree where I mounted a weatherproof box. This will be for antenna connections and any added components needed to make this antenna work.
I also decided to leave My spare coax to the pole building since its way longer than I need for this project. I have a smaller piece I'll run from my shack. I maybe have a solution to the vertical height-- slingshot attempt again but this time up at the apex of the wire and pulley. Maybe it would clear the heavy canopy to fall to the ground and give Me that extra height.
I'll try to take and post some pictures. Vacation tomorrow so hopefully have some time to play with antennas!
73--Tim

Inverted "L" Saga- Part 1

Have You ever noticed how a simple idea can take a life of its own? Yes, well this antenna project is fast becoming this type of a project. I believed foolishly this wire antenna would progress nicely towards a timely conclusion. Maybe even ready for CQ WW Dx end of October.
The first hurdle was getting the vertical wire over the top of 50-60 foot pine trees. My solution was the so called EZ launcher- a slingshot with fishing reel attached. Sounds easy ? Right! A little hint- Your kids old fishing reels ain't going to cut it! I tried-I failed! The line that comes with them is small"test" line. I attached one of My girls old reels to a walmart special wrist-rocket and attached a good sized sinker to it. The first trial sent that sinker a long ways!! Too bad it broke the line with the sudden acceleration!Its also a small capacity reel-see next paragraph!
Next attempt involved a classic Zebco 33 and 20 pound test-- I tried bigger line but its impossible to get enough line on the reel to go over the trees. Speaking of trees- big canopies at the top tend to cushion even a fairly heavy sinker and keep it from falling to the ground! I think a Maple or oak would have suited My purpose better-- also NOT having so many pine trees in rows might have made it easier too.
Many attempts and several close calls finally convinced Me to try another solution! Sometimes the simplest approach is the best-- I climbed up as high as possible and attached a rope and pulley. This will be the apex of My inverted"L"- not as high as i would have liked but now its up there! Thirty feet instead of sixty!
Its dark too early-- saga will continue!
73--Tim
PS-fishing line at accelerated speeds can cut kind of deep! :(

Antenna Decision

The day before out walking our dog in the front yard I started looking at the pine trees next to my tower.Wow- their are as high or higher than the tower. Planted years before We bought the place, in straight rows several deep in places. I use the biggest as a tie point for the center of My big 260 ft dipole but maybe if I could somehow get a wire over the top of one farther away, I'd have a good start for an "inverted L" for 160m.
With this in mind I''ve been scouring the internet and several antenna books I have. So far several ideas have popped out at Me. A bazooka type using coax as the radiator and of course the old standby wire type- insulated,fencing type,etc. I also see mostly coax fed antennas which at first I wanted to avoid but under the circumstances it would make feeding this antenna alot easier. It would be tough for open wire feed- too many guys and wires already in the way. Besides I have a long piece of RG-8 already outside as a spare. Just need to swing it towards the chosen pine tree base.
Yes, appears like the choice has been made- really want DX capibility on 160/80m and this might be better than other types I've contemplated. Besides- My tri-band project is on hold for now! Running out of time but maybe not for a wire antenna project!
73---Tim

Computer knowledge

How many operating systems and programs have you needed to learn over the years? I think I started with DOS 5 and went thru Windows 3.1 to the present day Windows 7. I stopped trying to learn them inside and out at about Windows 98. It was getting harder to be competant with every new release.
Recently I needed to print a screen shot of a program and when I did the "shift-print screen" or even right clicked-- nothing I could see was happening. Now maybe I'm just dreaming but I thought in earlier version somewhere, a print screen would start just that! Nope no printing. At work i happened to ask one of the"young" guys who smiled and explained i needed to open a program like "paint" and control-v and it would show up there. I could then manipulate to My heart's content!
I emailed this information to My girls, their 12 years old, I thought it would interest them. When I arrived home they rolled their eyes and said they had been doing that for years and sent ME a link showing a different but equally easy way of "screen printing". Yes,My kids are now smarter than Me computerwise!
73--Tim

Maybe its trying to tell Me something!

Ok, so I really thought I was prepared and had a good working setup for the CQWW Rtty contest. I was excited to be using My new Yaesu Ft-950 and had made several contacts and figured I was good to go. I use AFSK for RTTY and have a simple homemade isolated interface I use for PSK31,SSTV and RTTY. It has level control for both Transmit and Receive, red LED to indicate PTT activated and its connected to an old computer switchbox so its easily used with different radios. My second radio is a Yaesu FT-857 and both also have a CAT interface to My shack PC.
Friday night at Our house is family movie night and I very seldom miss participating. I always think about when the girls are bigger and won't enjoy spending time with Us....so We watched part one of"Dances with Wolves" before I had a chance for the contest.
I use MMTTY and N1MM and the first time I tried RTTY contesting it took quite a bit to get it working. Setting up N1MM first , use the"configure" menu setting soundcard type, mode to AFSK and make sure the path leads to MMTY.exe.You also need to set com port for your type radio and lastly use "setup MMTTY" to set TX com port for sending. Notice two com ports, Com one is to My homemade interface for PTT and com two is the CAT interface hence the radio type attached to com two.
Open N1MM , setup contest and MMTTY and the"RTTY engine" should be brought up also, if not go to "window" menu in N1MM and click "digital interface". You should see static on the waterfall and tuning around,espcially during a contest, see RTTY signals and hear the "diddle" sound.
So that is a very basic explanation for the setup, using My Ft-950 I started to make S & P QSO's and was off to a good start. Ten contacts later, after snagging P49X- smile,smile, the contacts abruply stopped. No matter what I tried, DX,North America, anyone,anywhere, I was decoding OK but getting no replies. At first i didn't realize something was wrong,but as more time went by and the dry spell increased it slowly dawned on Me-- what the hey??. ...Restart the Program,restart the PC, turn off and on radio. Play with the interface, try everything besides switching radios, until i finally gave up for the night. Maybe tomorrow the light bulb would pop on in My head!!
Next day... .well the weather was wayyy too nice to spend time contesting. I started and finished many projects till supper. After that I was too tired to even fight with a non working setup, maybe Sunday!
OK-repeat of the day before with the weather,the work, until finally several hours before contest end I made it back to the basement,determined to rack up some points. A quick assessment of the situation steared Me towards the old standby FT-857. Fairly simple to get it ready, except now the CAT control was only partially working! Oh well, at least contacts were being made, I stayed focused on 20m for a single band attempt, but in hindsight I should have tried for as many multipliers as possible!
I did quit before the contest end for Supper and a beer! Today I tried to find information on problems with the Ft-950 and RTTY but found no definitive answers. I think I need to copy all the changes in the menus from default and do a master reset. Hope that helps!
73-- Tim

Ready for RTTY

CQ World Wide RTTY Contest is this weekend and I've been getting My setup with My FT-950 fine tuned. This is only the second time attempting RTTY and the first time was with My Yaesu FT-857. I'm hoping with the many options the 950 has compared to the small versatile 857, I'll be able to post a decent score.

I will be doing a S & P contest until I am comfortable with the exchange. Testing tonight I was receiving a "RU" station from Russia and He was very strong. Maybe conditions will be favorable this weekend.

I also have a Swapfest Sunday Morning to attend.Going to meet some fellow Hams for breakfast, then head across the street to the Swapfest. Many eyeball QSO's-- should be fun!

73----Tim

Downsizing?

After many Years of accumilating stuff, I'm actually contemplating going the other way. Last weekend I actually turned down a 40's vintage,dual turntable RCA console. Nice rosewood cabinet-AM/FM, and I said sorry- -trying to downsize.
I already have decided to sell some of My better equipment on Ebay-- mostly to payback on My FT-950. The letting go I don't think will stop there- I have aquired lots from Hams via "its free" and I think I'll try to give back the same way. Many projects I've aquired with the idea" I can finish that"! -- Not!! Time and energy are just several reasons they have been relinquished to the corners of the basement.
Speaking of the basement-- how did I fill this area up? What happened to all those open spaces? Just another reason to downsize!
Stay tuned-- I'll try to post My "treasures " as I learn to let go! Wish Me luck!!
73---Tim

The Contest that wasn't!

Well it wasn't a contest for Me at least. The ARRL VHF contest I thought I was prepared for turned out to be a bust! Fridat Night I contacted several Hams in Wisconsin ( W9MP & N9KOR ) on 2m SSB, but no activity on 6m. 6m yagi tested OK so I thought I was set. It rained during the night and the next morning My big dipole was wet enough I had a dickens of a time tuning it to 3.919 for the morning net.
I had also decided to work on some outside projects in between busy times for the contest. This turned out to be a very good idea, a sense of accomplishment for the weekend. At 1800 utc I was on and checking propagation, had several early 2m contacts but 6m was not only dead on My radio but propagation on the internet was bad. Calling CQ on 6m for some reason didn't "feel" right so I decided to recheck with the analyzer and found it now was showing a bad SWR again!
I checked several verticals which tune OK on 6m and they looked normal. My problem was back on 6m just like during the summer- appears moisture is getting in somewhere. Thats why it looked OK till last nights rain. I had a choice now-- use a vertical on 6m or just pack it in. Well I left the staion running and was watching several propagation maps for any openings. I knew that would be the only chance for My available 6m antenna. My 2m setup was doing and checking Ok but activity when I passed thru the basement never really picked up. The bands up in Northern Minnestota never kicked in!!
I'm looking forward to the CQ RTTY contest end of September-- My HF6V was hearing DX whenever I listened.
73----Tim

6m is a go!!

The ARRL September VHF contest starts at 1800 UTC September 11th and I believe My 6m Yagi is now useable. I was going to try this contest using My 2m yagi and one of two verticals for 6m and then last night I started examining the 6m antenna issue. What I remember from some simple checks during the summer, the SWR was higher than normal. This yagi was originally built for 52.525 FM but did tune OK at 50.125.
This summer I did a basic check with My antenna analyzer but I had checked it thru jumpers and coax switches. I thought I had also checked right at the feedline and even there it showed high SWR. Now it shows about 1.8:1 at 50.125 which isn't great but not bad enough if used with My FT-950 which will tune to match. A self healing antenna? Maybe.. more than likely a bad/interrmittant jumper!
I bypassed everything and connected a jumper to Ant 2 on the FT- 950 and -voila! Tunes great and testing shows full 100w out. Couldn't raise anyone on frequency for further testing- maybe this weekend after 1800 UTC !!
73--hope to catch You on the bands!!-----Tim

Dog fitness program

Meet "Bella" our Terrier,Dachshound,Lab? mix who We adopted last year from the local shelter.She was listed as two years old but all indications point to Her advanced age of about five. She has adjusted well to Her new home and loves to "walk" around our property.I've been trained by Her to walk many times on My days off-LOL. I don't mind,I need the excercise and enjoy spending time with Her.
I mention our dog because of the excercise and because I've noticed several Ham radio blogs I occasionaly read have indicated Health issues from the bloggers. I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure which surprised Me considering My activity level. Probably genetics for Me but the point being is the need to take better care of ourselves. Ham Radio as a hobby does not tend to be physically exertive. Lots of brain power ,so just remember to add the physical part in somewhere.
Kids are back to school and I'm on vacation today-- raining outside so maybe I'll do some Ham projects. Bella and I have already had one walk this morning, any walks later will be in the rain. We've done that before- if its not too cold its kind of fun!!
73---Tim

D4C- Cape Verde

During the ARRL International SSB Contest in March, I had a contact with D4C on both 15m and 40m. Cape Verde is off the West coast of Senagal, Africa and I remember this station was booming in and gave Me a good signal report on 15m. Now if you do much contesting, pausing to tell sometime their signal is better than average is an unusual occurance. I've done it several times and had the favor returned. I was using My HF6V vertical- smile,smile!

This card is an EQSL card and it showed up in My inbox this week along with several others. Not all were from contesting contacts, but everyone was a welcome sight. Its fun to receive this during times of low activity on My part. Keeps My interest level up-- contests I'm involved in are just around the corner! Tomorrows Labor Day-- remember the workers in all walks of life1

73---Tim

Back to it!!

I checked into the local 146.52 early morning "greyline net" this morning and later I also participated in the "Iron Range net" on 3.919. Good turnout for both nets and it felt good for Me to be back into this Saturday morning routine.
I feel a slow growing excitement as the contest season approches for Me. Friday night while playing on the PC in the shack I listened on 20m to some of the "All Asia" contest activity. Signals were fairly good on My HF6V vertical and momentarily thought of participating but decided not to just because of other obligations.
Next weekend is the ARRL September VHF contest and even though My 6m beam is out of commision, I'm considering a try at this contest. After reading some of the write-ups from the June VHF contest, I mentally kicked Myself for not being involved . Conditions were very good and I think I would have had fun- even with antenna limitations.
I'll watch propagation this week to make My decision. Course it could change depending on family obligations. If I do operate, it will be a good time to do several small projects down here between QSO's. I really need to get ready for the upcoming RTTY contest at the end of September.
Have a safe and fun Labor Day Weekend! Think of the working people!!
73s---Tim

Blog List Change

Time to clean out a Blog from My"blog list"not being updated often enough so I can add a Newer blog with some really good technical information. The blog removed had not been updated for over five monthes and the new one although not recently updated is still within weeks old.
Hope you enjoy --SV8YM ... and no, I haven't emailed to ask permission to include it here. I tried before going that route and maybe half replied back-- whatever! Complaints? Easy to remove from the list! Its only a blog for petes sakes ( Betcha haven't heard that expression for a while!) I'm trying to have a kinder,gentler,non swearing blog!! :)
73's for now----Tim

Back to School soon!

Almost back to school time for My kids. Minnesota starts after Labor day, which is later than some states. Last week in South Dakota ,We were surprised how many states were already in session. This is also the time when I start having more "radio" time, it gets dark earlier and My kids have homework and other assorted school related chores. Grass slows down and outside projects wind down.

This year I'm not as enthused about the added time to play radio. I can't quite figure out this change in attitude. I hope it passes. Maybe I'll be re-energized when the September contesting starts. The CQ WW RTTY end of the month will be the first of the season for Me. I still need to work on the new interfaces for My FT-950.

Maybe crisp Autumn evenings will renew My attitude--

73---Tim

South Dakota Vacation

After much planning and preparation, We started Our family Vacation leaving Saturday Morning and driving about 350 miles to our first overnight stop at Sioux Falls South Dakota. Leaving early the next morning, driving I90 towards Rapid City , We stopped for one touristy attraction at Mitchell, home of the corn Palace! The corn palace was alot more than We expected and My family found it very interesting. Spent a little more time at Mitchell than planned so Our arrival in Rapid city was later than expected. It also was very hot across most of Western South Dakota topping off at 106F--yuck!!
Monday morning was our only planned guided tour and it was very enjoyable. We started at Fort Hayes for a "cowboy" style breakfast ,then boarded a tour bus for Mount Rushmore, the Needles Highway, Custer Park, Coolidge Lodge ? and Crazy horse and several other stops, finally ending back at fort Hayes for a chuckwagon supper and show. Long day but ,fun!
On our own We also enjoyed Deadwood,Keystone , Hill city and Custer! Katie went Horseback riding and all of Us rode a ski lift, toured the wax museum, Us adults did very limited gambling and Our kids swam in the various hotel pools and waterparks as much as possible!!
It was a very fun trip and We already have been discussing next Years!
I have a Yaesu FT2800 2m rig in our van and also brought My Handheld. I am very spoiled by the amount of activity I monitor locally- even public service channels are very active here. Most of Our trip ,the radio was very silent except for an occasional 146.52 simplex QSO. During part of a very windy road in the Black hills requiring My full attention, several local hams were on the local repeater.
Also by Salem,South Dakota while heading towards Mitchell, south of I90 I observed a QTH with about nine towers of various heights. The only Salem ham I could find on QRZ was W0SD.
Looked like an incredible contest station!
73---Tim ( South Dakota was fun,but glad to be back home)

The Pot of Gold!

Nice double rainbow with My tower and VHF antennas in the foreground. This picture was taken several days ago after another very heavy rain. My Daughter Kathy was able to take this great picture. No pot of gold so far, but I think the reward is just the beautiful scene!
This summer is fast winding down and antenna projects are at a standstill. I've given much thought to priorities and now I think maybe "less is more" will become My new goal. Having a big tri-bander in the air would be wonderful but at this point I am very happy with My big dipole and HF6V vertical for HF and my two Yagis and vertical for VHF seem to be adaquate. I also have a G5RV Jr. and 10/12m vertical in the air.
My 260 ft. dipole is fed with open wire feed from a tuner,so it is very much the classic muti-band antenna. I mostly use this one now on the 160 and 80m bands and use the Butternut HF6v vertical from 40-10m, even at times 6m to finish off the HF bands. Can I bust thru a pile-up like I maybe could with a beam and amplifier? No! Most times with patience and timing I can make the QSO if need be.
I still have some elements in place for a tri-bander-- rotor,feedline, tower on the ground and untested older tri-bander in storage. Still have time this year or next year or maybe never. We shall see-- I do think this year I will start downsizing in the basement-- just feels right to do so!!
Remember My new motto--Less is More!!
73---Tim

The Perp and the primary

The Perp is of course on the left and

the victim- Our beautiful specked sussex "jenna". We have a game camera setup by the coop and this fox was captured on film several weeks ago. After that defensive measures were taken to limit our chickens exposure to danger,but because they are free ranging on our entire property, options are limited unless they are not permitted to roam outside the coop. So happened last night was Primary voting in Minnesota so We did our Civic duty and upon returning home it started to rain. Rainy weather always seems like the time when predators are most active during daylight hours. By time we checked on the birds,all were already roosting in the safety of the coop-except Jenna. Looked everywhere and didn't find any evidence till this morning when My Wife and kids were walking the Dog. Another picture of the Fox was on the game camera too. Chickens presently are under "house arrest" till one of us can be out with them!

On another note- Primary in Minnesota-- media quoted a good turnout! Yeah- 16%-- what the?? Where is the 50-75% a democracy should have to be considered a good turnout? Sorry-had to vent!!

Ham radio time has been limited to several nets and some casual chatting with the locals. I have been checking out what need to do cable and equipment wise to utilize My new Yaesu FT-950 for PSK31,RTTY and SSTV. I also need to make up a cable for use with My homemade headset/footswitch setup. I might modify My exsisting kenwood 850 setup--I'll see.

73 for now--Tim

Band Activity

I was in the shack between chores and checking the bands only produced-- quiet. Very little activity. Checked propagation and seen the SFI at 84 and this chart with the big spike. Several contests are happening this weekend, one being the CW NAQSO Party. Checking the CW segments shows some 20m activity, but not much else.
73---Tim

Summer flying by!

Another funny chicken related picture! Our chickens are having a great free ranging summer, no predators so far . Our game camera did catch a great picture of a Coyote during ther night. Hope it stays away during the Day!

My headache is now a thing of the past- another doctor appointment and My blood pressure seems to be under control.Nine days is a record for having a headache- hope that never happens again!

Already August and all My planned antenna projects are on hold. This month is going to be very busy so antenna and ham projects are on the back burner for now. Listening to a local HF net I participate in most Saturdays -- almost My turn....

73---Tim

A Headache

I've had a Headache that won't go away for a week now. After a constant night and days worth I did go to the doctor and found out after many smug years of normal blood pressure I have now joined the ranks of millions with "High blood Pressure"!! My Mother,brother and sister have dealt with this for years, I guess now its My turn. I've been put on a diuretic to try to bring it to the more normal range, I hope My head clears soon. I've never needed to ever take this much Tylenol, finally even resorting to Tylenol with codiene-- that seems to dull it enough to get by. I don't consider Myself overweight and do excercise but not maybe enough. I don't ever add salt and eat sensibly. I think genetics might be against Me!
What does this have to do with Ham Radio? Well for Me it means no desire to listen to static till My head is better. Been too humid to do much work outside so no progress on antennas. I remember reading an article in one of the Ham Radio publications about the need for all Hams to stay in shape. Hmmmm....
73-Tim

Stormy Weather

Working for a local Utility Company and also being a Ham Radio operator always makes Me rather jumpy when thunderstorms pass thru the area. Will I be called in to work repairing storm damaged communication equipment and will My Ham station at home survive unscathed?
Just as I pulled in the driveway tonight at the end of the workday it started raining and by Suppertime the local Ham radio Weathernets were activated. Rain was falling by bucketful and it was really thundering and lightening out. Then came the hail, soon littering the lawn with leaves and branches. Even ripping several window screens.
As always before the storm had intensified, I unplugged the non-UPS protected equipment in the Ham shack. One Antenna feedline has no lightening protection so I disconnected that one. My open wire feedline is still unprotected so I turn my antenna tuners to the dummy load position and hope for the best! Unfortunately, working around Communication equipment all these Years, I realize the weakest link ,such as My unprotected feedline, will be the avenue where lightening will pass!
Another storm passes and luck is on My side-- I really do need to spend the money to finish protecting the shack. Its only a matter of time.......
73---Tim

Baudette Loran C

When I first started working in northern Minnesota, I occasionly would be in the vicinity of Baudette,Mn and drive past the Loran C station south of town. According to the website-- http://www.loran-history.info/baudette/baudette.htm this staion was first Transmitting in February 1980 and in February 2010 was decommisioned.
This week I was up in the Baudette area working and noticed when driving past the sign was already taken down and no Cars in the parking lot! Kind of sad!
73--Tim

New Homepage

Until recently I used the" ARRL.ORG "as My Homepage but with the redesign I just don't like it ! Slow to load and info is hard to find. I'll still need it for LOTW, but typically only go there after contests. I now use My blog- http://n0ujj.blogspot.com/ as my new homepage. Loads fast and it prompts Me to "post" to it more often.
Nothing new on the Ham Radio front-- can't even schedule a QSO, been very busy and now work demands My presence.
73--Tim

Chickens & Ham Radio

A little humor and an interesting fact-the above image was received on 6m SSTV! So the comic is Ham related and the bottom image is to remind Us all about the extrememes in temperature We all live thru!Both pictures also are significant because We have chickens. Bottom picture shows our coop during winter
Here's hoping everyone stays cool
73--Tim

July 4th Weekend

Tomorrow is July 4th- Independance Day! My Twin girls were born 12 years ago at 9:57 and 10:00 CST on the 4th. I always told them the fireworks were to celebrate their birthday, course now they know what its really about. Ah ,youth! For a good read about Our countrys' birth, look at this link-http://www.duniganreport.com/ Jack is writing a daily blog leading up to July 4th 1776. Each day has interesting facts and some opinion too.
Was hot yesterday and very hot today. Did most chores both Mornings,quit by noon before the heat and humidity became unbearable. No Ham projects to report except bands sound active lately-- thats good.
Enjoy Your holiday and always remember the sacrificies it has taken to get Us here.
73---Tim

1000 Views!!

Thanks to everyone who has paused at My blog. I hope some of My posts have been entertaining or useful. I read a few blogs and I'm always amazed at the excellant writing styles and the organizational skills of the writers! I wish My blogs would flow as grandly!

The strange thing is I can think what I'm going to say but to impart that to the printed word...well it just doesn't translate as good. Maybe that's why I'm an Electronic technician and not a writer!!

I also have tried to keep this blog strictly Ham Radio oriented! I have many views on daily events and every day life but I truly believe they are best discussed face to face over a cold one!

I have a hard enough time writing about semi-technical topics.Imagine My prose with social,political or Heaven forbid--religious subjects! No- Ham radio from My corner of the basement is scary enough--- LOL ( laugh out loud)-- don't you hate our acronym rich society??

73 & thanks---Tim

QSL from Haiti

Fond Parisien,Haiti to be exact. I received the above QSL card today- unfortunately a corner of the card and envelope are missing. Appears to be a over-aggressive postal machine. Contact was from April 17th 2010 at 2400 utc on 20m. Short but sweet contact.

73--tim

Hong Kong delivery is here!

My new Handheld FDC-160 arrived by registered mail today. It came packaged fairly well with many stamps and even a "customs" sticker on it. Inside the box was the handheld,battery ,charger,belt clip,earpiece,instruction manual ( english and Chinese? ) and a complimentary pen from the 409shop!
Glanced at instruction manual, attached battery to the back and turned it on.Battery was fully charged and radio has some basic frequencies in memory. We had the Weathernet activated for some very severe storms tonight so I programmed in that Repeater and listened on the new radio. Works great on receive although 5 watts and a rubber ducky don't appear to be enough to access the repeater.Must be a little too far outside coverage area. After adding a simplex frequency was able to verify transmit!
I've added about 20 frequencies into memory-- some Ham,some public service and am listening to it scan as I type. Happiness is a new radio-- especially one so cheap in price!!
It doesn't appear I can directly add frequencies to the VFO,but need to use arrow keys to scroll thru. Can't expect everything ,considering the price. All in all I love it!
73--Tim

HRD Issue

Nice day in Northern Minnesota. Too nice to spend time in the basement but I did have a chance this morning to check out the bands. Ten meters was in very good shape along with most others from HF-6m. I started Ham Radio Deluxe , which I use as My general logging program, using Radio rig control ,Dx cluster,QRZ and the logger. After My first contact , I entered it using the "add" function of the logger and looked up My next contact on QRZ thru HRD, then realized the only log entry showing was the most previous one! This was not good! All My entries from 1992 to the present were gone!
I tried to find where the file of My log disappeared before leaving to go to a movie with My family. Upon returning ,I did again try to find out what had happened. I did load an older save from My USB drive but HRD has not been saving since April!!Luckily this was also a time period of hardly any activity and I still keep abbreviated paper logs. Paper log does not include any contests, but does have single QSO's.
I'm still not sure what happened, but will be paying closer attention to My log!
73---Tim

Happy Fathers Day-- My Family made mine special as always!!

New Handheld ordered!

DISCLAIMER!!! -- this is not an endorsement for a supplier.Manufacturer or any other entity!!!
That being said-- I ordered this portable recently as a Fathers Day gift from My family. Several Hams in the area ordered similiar portables for an incredibly low price-- shipping included from Hong Kong! Yes-- free shipping from Hong Kong, not sure how its possible! I only paid $54.40 and it includes battery,charger and earpiece.

My fellow Hams each have their portables and are using them! Very Satisfied with it!Tracking on mine shows being shipped from Hong Kong-- hopefully not a slow boat!! I only bought this portable ( handheld,handi-talkie, etc) because of the price. Never imagined i would have a reason to own one.Price was right. Won't be here by Fathers Day,which is OK. Hoping it will show up sometime!!

73--Tim

a Google find

Have you ever googled yourself? I have a very common name so the pages of info are overwhelming unless I google My callsign. This is what did and found many pages of My exsistance from blogs,contesting and other times I've been mentioned in cyberspace. Very interesting stuff!! I even exsist on Russian servers!! I also happened across a link referencing the CQ WPX 2009 contest indicating a certificate waiting in PDF for N0UJJ. What the?? Sure enough, 5th place , single operator ,low power, 20m band only for the zero callsign area.
Further checking revealed these certificates are given to many places , I only checked to tenth place, but what the hey? I'll take it! Its a quite nice looking certificate and its a paper to show the Family so they realize My time spent contesting has value.
73---Tim

3 QSO's in a Minute

My time operating during the June ARRL VHF contest consisted of three QSOs during about a minutes duration on Sunday. Reading the 3830 archives leads Me to believe 6m on Saturday was cranking. My Yagi is kaput ,so it would have been verticals only. Maybe next Year!
I did keep very busy considering it rained on and off all weekend. I still have not had time to install the Square shooter TV antenna but because of this project I've re-evaluted My other Ham antenna projects. At one time I was going to put a mono bander for 10m , using an old ATB34 without the traps . This was the only option to fit it in the required space unless-- I move My tri-band VHF/UHF vertical but until recently had no place to reinstall it. Along comes the aforementioned HDTV antenna and now the antenna movement will begin.
Instead of mounting the TV antenna on My existing tower, it will instead be on the backside of the garage along with the tri-band vertical. More trenching coax-- oh well! This will give just enough space for the tri-band beam (ATB34) to spin around. It won't be super high,but at this elevation and with the opening thru the trees East and South should give fair results. Time will tell!!
73 for now--Tim

Quick Update....

Busy,busy, I've been busy!! Girls helped paint shed and whole family tackled the upstairs bathroom. Grass and weeds are still growing at a furious rate and the four letter word (Work) has been interesting- could have said busy....but that's and understatement!
The ground radials for My vertical have taken a beating as I have been trimming the trails they run across . Seems like My wheeled trimmer creates enough suction to lift them up and befor I know it, wrap around the shaft and make a terrible mess! Next trimming will be with the weed trimmer,easier to control!
A bright spot is My Winegard TV antenna was delivered and I think it will be perfect. Wingard makes a sturdy mount and antenna called the square shooter. I'll write up the outcome later after installation.
Listening to the radio while typing this-- 160m and 2m FM, both busy. I have not been on for a while-- several morning nets tomorrow I will participate in. Next weekend is the ARRL June VHF/UHF contest I might give it a try again,been several Years!
73---Tim

Less Radio,more Summer !

Yes,more Summer. It's not dark here now till about 9:00pm so many nights after work I only am in the shack long enough to check email. It has also been un-seasonably warm, early growing for everything including grass and weeds. I've been giving the mowers and weed wackers a workout most evenings. All things green grow like crazy in the early Spring/summer - almost like playing catch-up from winter.
I really like all the seasons up North and because of Our short Summers by the big Lake, I try to fit in as much outside activities as possible. So therein lies the catch-- outside means some antenna work, in between the necessary chores. This week I have been playing with Television antennas! Ever since the switch to HDTV ,at this location the struggle has been to receive a picture that actually doesn't cut out! Luckily We do have local channels thru our satellite provider but HD over the air is a picture to behold!! I tried to utilize the old VHF antenna in the attic, but even with the old analog channels the ghosting was bad. With Digital its a picture killer. The attic is also now not accessible because of the new addition that We added many Years ago. Lots of Blown in insulation and no access anymore. Rabbitt ears and other variations of inside antennas are only passible, so outside was the next step.
We have many huge pine trees of various species and many other trees between the TV stations and Us. We also have a big hill! Using one of Our square indoor antennas on an aluminum pole temporarily attached and pointed at varying degees clearly showed Us a much improved but not perfect multi channel reception. Next step was to try and find a path without all the pine trees blocking Us. My 50' tower just so happens to be in a location that just might help here. Tywrapping this antenna on a corner leg has given Us a great picture. Looks like 40' of RG-6 and a new Outdoor antenna is just the ticket.
Tomorrow I will order a Winegard Square shooter because of the ease of installation and our proximity to all the TV stations. From the tests I have done I think it will be a winner!!
all for now-- 73 Tim

Another Antenna Project

Last Years project was the Butternut Vertical, year before that was a Comet GP-15 on top of a small tower attached to My pole building. The pole building by coax route- not as the crow flies but as is needed to keep it off My lawn is about 150 feet. Add the tower length and length to have enought to play with inside My basement and I end up needing about 200 feet of coax,rotor cable,etc.
Several years ago I bought an old steel tower, with coax ,rotors and the same year I also was given a Cushcraft ATB34- a tri-bander!! This was also the Year copper prices went thru the roof and I decided to use salvaged cable for the rotor cable run. The salvaged cable was a multiconductor, in a sheath ,but only 25 -35 foot long pieces. This would mean having about 5 splices to reach to a box outside My basement to a box on the nearest corner of My pole building. This is 24 conductor stranded so I soldered,heat shrunk each individual conductor.Then used progressively bigger tubing to encase the entire splice and wrapped with scotch 88 tape and finally used liquod tape over the entire splice. Lot's of work-you bet. But think of the money saved-- NOT!! Luckily My time at My hobby is cheap!!
Anyway that was several years ago and the cable was patiently waiting for Me to finally start this project. Into two boxes,one at each end I connected this cable to some screw terminal connector strips and used two short pieces of actual rotor cable to finish into My shack and attach a rotor temporaily for testing at the pole building end. I'm going to be using an old Hygain tailtwister and CDE control box. In the manual it gives resistance readings between all eight terminals without the control box connected. These all checked ok .so next I hooked the control box and while talking to My kids on the phone, had them watch the rotor. Worked perfectly!!
Next step is to assemble and test the tri-bander, of which I've done lots of measuring and thinking about! I'll explain during another post!!
73 for now---Tim

Vertical Antenna Maintenance

I noticed after the Winter Storms My Butternut HF6V Vertical was not tuning the same and even seemed to not "hear" as before. I eventually traced the problem to this 200pf 7.5kv doorknob Capacitor. I think not having this antenna guyed eventually the constant flexing broke this Capacitor. The metal arm in the picture is attached to a brass screw and it actually is were it is broke--the arm comes out!
I called Bencher Manufacturing- the owner of Butternut antennas and ordered a new Capacitor and a replacement 15m kit. The standoffs for this portion is plastic and after 25 years has deteriorated and broke. I have several held together with tape so time to replace. The price is rather high for the capacitor, next time I'll maybe try to find a generic on the Web.
The new cap and 15m kit arrived in a few days-- but before installation I decided to resolve the flexing issue by adding non-metallic guys. Butternut recommends adding guys at the 12 foot level and I did do this using a plastic sleeve with three holes drilled in it to accept a small diameter poly rope.I used a piece of pipe in the ground and two tree stumps, all about 4 feet high to attach the guys.Simple but effective- just needs to solidify the antenna and keeping it from swaying.
Installing the new Doorknob capacitor was simple and at the same time i tightened any loose hardware.I didn't install the 15m kit yet,but when I do I need to put anti-seize compound on any joints I take apart. I just barely installed this antenna before the snow was flying last year and neglected this step. Not good! The Antenna is definately playing better and I think some improvement will be gained with the rest of My future work on it. In the wind it is looking good!
73--Tim

ARAC Swapfest

The Arrowhead Radio Amateur Club Swapfest in Superior,Wisconsin is the biggest Radio event I attend. I have been to this one for many Years in a row and its a favorite of mine. This Year I almost didn't go and I would have regretted it. Luckily I talked to some of My friends the night before on 146.52 and their enthusiasim convinced Me. One of them even ran the local net in the morning from the parking lot right outside this event.
I was up early this morning to take care of some chores and to check the water heater to see if it was again functioning normally-- don't ask!! I arrived before the "gates" were open and took the above picture of just the vendors and sellers inside. Sorry-a little blurry with My camera Phone.
Once inside , I quickly realized this was a virtual goldmine of great gear this year. More radios and Amplifiers than I had seen before- several amps made My mouth water, one was a Henry and another a AL-80 for a low price! Too bad I was tapped out with any major purchases, but still managed to buy a 5/8 2m mag mount for My company van-- no holes please! :). Also an estate sale of connectors and adapters for twenty five cents each- used but what a deal!
This event also was a goldmine of callsigns I had many QSO's with and had never had an eyeball conversation with till now. Lots of great conversation till finally I absolutely needed to go. Word of the day was-FUN! Reenergized My Ham attitude!
73--Tim

Time of the Year

I've not had much "Ham Radio" type of posts lately. This is the time of the Year when I don't spend much time in the basement. I work Full-time Monday thru Friday so that only leaves Me evenings to do everything else. Lately that means walking the dog, playing sports with My girls, doing many "chicken" chores ( We have 10 hens!) and generally getting ready for spring !
This means I am back in the house around 8 pm, giving time to make tomorrows lunch, discuss assorted subjects with My Wife,eventually watch the news and sleeptime. Yeah, you get the picture-- leaves Me about an hour in the shack. If I write My blog,check email, cruise the bands-- times up!!
I'm really not complaining, My life is great! Never enough time but why should I be any different than most people? Wintertime in Minnesota is My shack time during the week.
I have slowly been working towards a working tri-bander on My short tower attached to the pole building. I will finish that before the snow flies and hopefully give a work detail of that project.Oh , I also need to experiment with a better HD antenna so all the local channels receive good and aren't breaking up.
Enough for now-- I could discuss the state of our Country or religion, but I need to keep this blogs topics Ham Radio only! No controversy here-
73-- Tim

Lurking

Lurking! Have You heard this term before? Up in these parts it is a Licensed amateur listening in on fellow amateurs chatting on frequency. Can be on Vhf,UHF or even good 'ol HF. I actually do this when I'm working on projects in the shack,typing emails or just like lately when I'm in a quiet, retrospective mood....or when I have nothing to say!!
Most Hams do this at one time or another or on a repeater-should! How many times have You been monitoring a repeater, ready to jump into the conversation, not actually finding a clear pause in the conversation. Sometimes the flow of conversation is such that a person shouldn't interrupt! Then some bozo jumps in-basically to hear themselves talk! Rant,rant-LOL!!
Anyway- just thinking.... Gentleman on 40m now-- He bought himself a brand new Yaesu Ft-5000! Sounds like He likes it alot! Good for Him. I'm still happy with My Ft-950,probably should talk some more---maybe later.
73--Tim

This and That

Last Saturday in April and We have been enjoying an early Spring. This time last Year We still had snow on the ground so I feel like I'm weeks ahead of yard cleanup. This is also Garage Sale time for Us so I took Vacation yesterday to assist My Wife ,put out signs, help with all aspects of running the sale. Today My Girls helped Us alot and now finally done. Very successful and now inside warming up this old body-- in the 40 degree farenheit temperature today so not fun sitting outside. Lucky for Me My Wife and girls did most of the selling!
Also busy at work , retirement party I attended and other Family ,work obligations. What does this have to do with Amateur Radio?? Nothing besides keeping Me from playing in the shack! Still do not have alot of time with the New FT-950, but I definately like the many features I have used. Briefly checked into a Saturday Morning HF Net and a heterodyning noise was present. Very difficult to elimainate, so far about the only interference the new Yaesu has not eliminated entirely. Narrowing receive bandwidth does almost completely remove it but then the voice sounds unnatural.
Oh well,enough for now-- local swapfest next weekend I hope to attend. Maybe I'll find a few treasures. 73- have a good weekend---Tim

An unexpected New One!

After Supper last Night, decided to check email and listen to 20m before heading outside. Happened to scan across the bands and at 14.190 was HH2JEA/N8JEA operating from an Orphanage in Haiti. Haiti is a new one ,so I stopped to listen. He was calling out by the numbers and went from 9 land to Zero land. I was the second "0" to be answered--cool. His signal was an actual 5/9 and He returned the same to Me-- don't know if it was but... gave Him added info about weather and location. Not necessary but I wanted it to be more than wham-bang got the DX again! From the little chatter I heard, Richard N8JEA is from Chicago and in Haiti assisting with medical. A Ham and a good samariton- don't get better than that!
73--Tim

CK8G - 2nd Day

Went to bed last Night not hearing or seeing any indication of CK8G on the Clusters or the bands. When I had a chance at work today checked Ve8ex's blog and some info there indicated His arrival was quite late last night. Eventually it showed him as QRV at about 1400z this morning and checking the DX Cluster verified this. I also found out He was on Twitter as CK8G. I have followed several Dxepditions on Twitter and most of the time its a timely resource.
First chance for a contact would be after work , about 2130z or later. I did quickly look at the Dx cluster before leaving work and seen He was back on 14.260, the IOTA unofficial calling Frequency. After I was Home for a while, wandered down and turned on the radio, tuned it to 14.260 and there He was! He was also calling north America ,so I tuned up, turned on the processor for that little extra kick and after the next Complete QSO I threw out My call.
Now I'm not a big gun station, 100w into either a 260' open wire feed dipole or Buternut HF6V ground mounted vertical and hope for the best. The best is usually many attempts, catching the ebb and flow just right before success. This time was different! I said " November zero United Japan Japan" and right back was "november zero united japan japan 59". Wow! First try! I returned with a thank-you John 59 Minnesota and sat back with a smile! He was in the log without much fuss!
Later as I was writing this I listened to the West coast contacting CK8G,. I was hearing the West coast very well,but not a peep from CK8G. He was there,I just couldn't hear Him. Timing, luck and band conditions were with Me earlier!
73-- Happy Dxing, Tim

Chasing Greens Island

Greens Island is located in the southwest corner of Amundsen Gulf, 15 miles east of Paulatuk Northwest Territories,Canada. Its "Islands on the Air "designation is NA-182. John VE8EV will be operating from there as CK8G from about April 14th 2200z thru April 17th. I have followed John before thru His Blog when He has operated other IOTA's and Contests.
I was fortunate to make contact on 20m during his IOTA activation of Ellice Island ( VX8X ) and I tryed for Banks Island ( VC8B) but conditions and timing did not cooperate. He has also participated in many contests giving the much needed NWT contact.
Tonight while writing this I've been pausing to check the DX cluster He is usually spotted on and also His website ( Blog) which did indicate He had landed in Paulatuk,but did not specify the time.So far no" spots" but I'll watch and listen for a time on 20m.
73 for now- will update --Tim

Insomnia.

Yes, happens on occasion. Can't sleep, so wander down to the shack , hoping for that rare DX. Too bad but the bands are back into a funk! Noise low end,silence above. No local repeater chatter even to occupy the time. I do enjoy playing with the new radio, but with little to listen to, eventually attention turned to a QSL card I received today. Its from January 9,2010 from a Canadian Ham operating Portable 7 from Quartzite,Arizona. His time and Mine of Our QSO differ by seven hours, don't know whats up with that but I do remember the QSO. Vertical to vertical antenna ,He was camping, I heard him call CQ with no takers so I answered. My report was 5x5 and I honestly could give Him a good 5x7. Nice Gentleman, Chatted about the usual, Rigs,power,antennas ,camping and retirement. I sent eQSL and LOTW, He sends a QSL card- nice. I'll be sending a card back-- wonder how the rest of His vacation was?
Tired, good night
73--Tim

YI9PSE and split operation

I heard YI9PSE on 7065 tonight and they were listening up at 7175. They were very faint and lots of intentional? interference with CW ,tuner-uppers,etc. Lots of People showing their IQ!
Anyway-- not to complain,actually I was not chasing this DX expedition but it seemed like a good time to try split operation on the FT-950. Split on this radio is so easy! Didn't even check the manual, set Tx frequency on VFO-A and then transferred it to VFO-B by pressing the A>B button and bingo --TX frequency now set on VFO-B. Press VFO-B TX button,it lights up "red" and then set VFO-A Rx frequency. Done!! Could have just set VFO-B first and not transferred between VFO's but had set it to "A" first.
Want to know if TX frequency is correct without transmitting?? There is a button called "TXW" for doing just that-- checks,no transmitt. Again a real slick option! Gotta love this Radio!
I also hooked up My old trusty Kenwood TS-850 to the newly aquired Astron Power supply and threw a piece of RG-8 to another port of the antenna switch and compared between the rigs on a QSO on 40m. Gotta say even with the internal speaker the old Kenwood sure sounds fine. It also was showing s9+20 on the receive signal, needed to turn on 2nd RX amp on the Yaesu to get s9+20. Kenwood 850 has always been known for its great receiver!!
My new Yaesu still has so much more,but the 'ol Kenwood is like a comfortable old shoe! Wish money wasn't the issue--- but the Yaesu is very nice!! Get the picture?? Yup-- I'm a typical Ham,hate to let go!!
73--have a great weekend---Tim

Rough Bands!

Well I've been very busy lately, hardly any time to even listen to My new Radio. The bands don't seem to be very good when I have had a chance to tune around. I've played with the noise reduction and BW,IF shift of the FT-950 and I have to say I'm very impressed. They've come along way in 25 years! I will write a hands on description when I have more time.
I stopped by a fellow Ham's House tonight to see His shack and pick up a Astron RS20 supply I purchased from Him. The supply had not been used for a while so powered it up no load, then light load and finally about half load. Seems to be working fine , tomorrow will run it full to see how it does.
Been another tiring week, so I'll keep it short.
73--Tim